Whatever it Takes
by SassyPrincess14
Summary: Carlee finds herself in a situation that is much less than ideal. She is Negan's newest interest. Her group met Lucille and she ended up with the saviors. All she wanted was to keep her son safe. In a world surrounded by death, that was just too much to ask. OC/Daryl. T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" my husband's hand caressed my cheek gently as he kissed me. He told me this every day. I loved this man so much. He was amazing. Even in a world surrounded by death and fear, he could make me smile.

It was early, the sun had barely broken over the horizon. "You're such a secret romantic," I grinned, taking my gun from my hip to check it for ammo. We would be leaving soon and I needed to be prepared.

"Only for you babe," he winked, his brown eyes looking over me with so much love. I felt so lucky to still have him in this world. I didn't know what I would do without my family. I had him and our son, Hunter. Hunter was only eight and part of me hated the thought of him being armed with a gun, but the other part of me knew that it was for the best.

"Ryan, where are we headed today?" Bill, one of our group members asked. Ryan was our leader, he always had him and everyone trusted him with their lives. He'd always steered us right.

"We're gonna keep scavenging in the next town over, then hopefully we'll find somewhere new to hold up."

We were a part of a small group, there were only a total of eight of us. Before this had all started, Ryan and I had been a part of a biker group, we weren't anything violent, but we had a major presence in Southern Georgia. After having Hunter, I stepped away from it a little, but these men were my family and they would do anything Ryan asked of them. They all knew that they had to protect Hunter at all costs. We all knew that. Pretty much none of the other men in the group had married—except for Mack, he had been married, but his wife, Julie, had been bitten a couple of months back. I missed her. I missed all the people we'd lost. Our group once was a lot larger.

"Mommy," Hunter walked over to my side and clutched my hand. I knelt to his level.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Do we have any food left?" he murmured. I knew he never would be one to flat out complain that he was hungry, he understood that food was rare these days.

"You hungry little man?" Ryan asked, ruffling our son's hair. Hunter nodded and Ryan smiled at him before handing him a granola bar from his pocket. Hunter's brown eyes lit up and accepted the food. He looked so much like his dad, he was like a little clone.

"Thanks, Dad."

Ryan winked at the boy and smiled at me. "I'm going to go over the plan with Peter and Louis, you get our tent all packed up and in the SUV, okay?"

"Okay," I squeezed his hand and he frowned for a moment.

"Your hands are like ice, Darlin'. Here," he gave me is worn leather jacket—one I had worn frequently. I just smiled at him in thanks.

"You wanna help me get the tent all ready?" I asked Hunter, he happily agreed and off we went.

XxX

"Ryan," I said, looking over at my husband. There was a road block in front of us with several men standing, as if they were waiting for us. He didn't reply. He looked at the men, sizing them up—probably deciding if our group could handle them. We had the SUV—where Ryan, Hunter, and I rode, plus the other five men on bikes. There were only six men in front of us. We could take them; I was sure of it.

"Carlee, stay here with Hunter," he said. I saw the look of panic wash over his face before he steeled himself once more. He stepped out, hand on his holster. The other men followed suit and I watched a verbal exchange. There was a taller man with a graying beard and a leather jacket, who appeared to be the leader of their little group. He seemed to speak directly to my husband, Ryan's shoulders tensed and I didn't like the look of this. Our group was strong; we were good fighters, and we all worked well together—that was how we'd made it so far. He should have anything to worry about. He'd never doubted our strength before, why now?

"Mommy, what's Daddy doing?" Hunter asked, rested his chin on the middle seat and looking outside.

"He's just talking to them," I said. Hunter nodded, accepting this.

I watched the exchange for a few more moments, it was then that more men came from all sides around our vehicles. Before I could think to do much, the doors to the SUV opened and there was a man grabbing for Hunter. I tried to grab my gun, but another man grabbed for me. I kicked him as hard as I could in his face and tried to slide back across the front seat, but there was nothing I could do. Too many came at once. Before I knew it, we were pushed to our knees in a line on the road. Hunter was beside me, he was staying strong, but he was afraid. I wanted nothing more than to reach over and comfort him, but the man with the graying beard told us to all stay still. We were at a disadvantage and I had to do everything in my power to not put us in a worse position.

"Stupid whore broke my nose," one of the other group's men whined. I saw Ryan start to react but I caught his eye and he dropped his shoulders.

"This one your bitch, Ryan?" the bearded man said. He came up and took my chin between his thumb and his pointer finger.

"She's my wife, you son of a bitch," Ryan stated through gritted teeth. I knew Ryan didn't like the other man touching me—I certainly didn't either.

"She's smokin'," he commented, giving a low whistle. "She's got a kick on her too, apparently, feisty. Just how I like 'em," he murmured, he glanced over to the man I'd kicked, his nose was bleeding profusely. "You shouldn't have done that," he added.

"Fuck you," I spat. He wiped his face before roughly dropped my chin and laughing bitterly.

"You shouldn't have done that," he continued to laugh. His grin was sadistic. He turned his back to me and walked back a few paces before coming to face all of us. "For those who don't know, I am Negan. You all answer to me now."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Harrison asked.

"They don't get it, do they?" Negan laughed, speaking to his men. "See, you're going to make me do this now," he accepted a bat offered to him by one of the other men. It had barbed wire wrapped around it and I cringed. Why the hell would someone have that? "Everyone say hello to Lucille," he said, showing off the bat like he was proud of it. "One of you sorry pricks is going to get to meet Lucille face to…face," he seemed to consider the last word as he looked at the end of the bat. "Now, don't think that I want to do this, it's strictly business. You all need to learn just how serious this is." He paced in front of us, the bat swinging parallel to his legs the whole time. This was when Hunter and I both lost our reserve. My son latched on to me tightly. He didn't cry, but he held me tightly.

Negan didn't comment on Hunter, he just continued as he was. He walked back to the far end of the group, seeming to have decided what he planned to do. He swung the bat and the sickening sound of Lucille contacting with Harrison's skull echoed in my brain. I clung to Hunter, wanting nothing more than for him to miss what was happening. He didn't need to be scared with it.

The thing with our group was that we didn't take shit from anyone, despite being out numbers. Peter and Louis stood up immediately and started hitting Negan. Two gunshots rang out, dropping them both with a loud thud to the road. I gasped loudly and tears rolled down my cheeks.

Cracking his neck, Negan laughed. "Where we were?" he went back to wailing on Harrison's skull with the bat.

"You son of a bitch," Bill stated, looking at him. "You really think we're going to work with you after doing this?"

Negan laughed again. I used to think that laughing was a sign of happiness and something that made the world seem less heavy…but Negan's laugh was something different. It weighed me down with dread.

"Work _with_ me? It's funny that you think you're worth more than the dirt on my shoe. You're gonna work for me."

"You might as well kill me now, I'll never work _for_ you," Bill stated confidently.

"Bill," Ryan called over to him, trying to get him to shut the hell up.

"No, Ry, let him speak his piece here," Negan laughed, looking at my husband. His eyes trailed over to me and he looked me up and down. I cringed and he met my eyes before winking. "Y'know, Lucille is kind of a thirsty girl anyway," he shrugged before hitting Bill over the head as well. I couldn't hold in a shriek. Ryan grabbed my hand and gave me a pleading look. Pleading for me to be quiet. How could he sit there so emotionless? Our family was being murdered before our eyes! How could he not at least look sad?

"Well," Negan hit the bat against the ground, letting some more blood drip from it. He strolled over to Ryan. "I think I've got a deal for you, at least to start with," he smirked. "You keep that one and the little whining brat," he motioned towards Hunter. "I take half your supplies and your smoking hot wife," he stated.

Hold the phone.

What the literal fuck?

"Ain't going to happen," Ryan stated.

"You haven't got much of a choice," Negan roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the ground. "If you want options I could kill your little brat too," he offered.

"Go—" Ryan started.

"Stop," I said, meeting his eyes. His brown eyes showed more fear than he'd ever express. "Hunter is what matters most. You know that. I'm not letting either of you get killed," I stated. "I'll go if that's what it takes."

I saw Ryan reach for his ankle and I knew what he was reaching for, I just didn't react fast enough. He pulled out his spare gun and fired.

The bullet only grazed Negan's head. Enough to draw blood and knock him on his ass. I moved away from him and back to Hunter.

Negan stood and laughed bitterly. He touched his head and looked at the blood. Two men had Ryan's arms held out as Negan made his way over with Lucille.

"No," said.

"Carlee, Hunter, I love you," Ryan said.

No…It couldn't be.

Not my husband. Not like this.

 **AN: Inspired by last night's episode of TWD. I hope you all enjoyed it. I hope I was able to capture Negan's character accurately. Hit up that little review box. I'd like to hear some opinions. If you don't like it, do not be overly mean, please! Thank you for reading!**

 **~Michelle**


	2. Chapter 2

I hated myself. I hated everything about me right now. It was the end of the world, there were dead people walking around, and I was wearing a fucking dress. Negan had given me clothes and this what it. He didn't let me wear anything else. The man acted like he was God. Like he was the absolute holy ruler of all of us. Of his men, of the people he kept here. It was not okay. I didn't understand how he had such a following, so many men were willing to blindly follow his sadistic orders.

The dress made me feel like the Southern Belle of a housewife I always refused to become. I never wore dresses before all of this, I didn't need to start wearing them now!

Hunter and I had been here for less than a day. We'd spent last night here in a bedroom with a bed. I had slept next to my son—but slept wasn't quite the right word. I had not gotten any sleep whatsoever. I stayed awake for most of the night, just thinking about the past, thinking about Ryan and our previous lives together. I missed him more than words could come close to describing. I tried to keep my tears as quiet as I could, cuddled next to the only living thing I had left. I was grateful to have my son, but I couldn't keep my mind away from the man who had put me in this situation.

Negan.

Sitting across from the son of the bitch who had put me in this hell was almost too much to bear. I wanted to be sick as I picked at my eggs. Admittedly this would be the most appetizing breakfast I'd had since the outbreak, if it wasn't ruined by the sick bastard across the table and the extenuating circumstances. Hunter, on the other hand, didn't seem phased by everything as much. He was so young; I knew that he was still in shock and his basic need for food was kicking in and overriding anything else on his mind.

"You should eat," Negan said, I knew it wasn't a simple request. "You're thin," he added. I self-consciously looked down at my body. I was thin, thinner than I'd ever been. When I'd showered, I could feel the indents of my ribs and I could see my hip bones.

"Yeah momma, it's real good," Hunter stated, scooping up some more eggs. I had to remind myself not to get frustrated with Hunter for not being upset. He was just a kid, he probably didn't realise the gravity of the situation. He just knew that he hadn't eaten in a long time, and now he had an abundance of food right in front oh him. So he ate.

I didn't say anything; I took a full bite and looked down at my plate some more. I heard Ryan's voice in the back of my head _Whatever it takes, for Hunter. We've gotta keep him safe. You know that, darlin'._

Taking a deep breath, I ate the food on my plate. I took small bites and slowly eating most of what was there. "That's what I'm talking about," I looked up to see Negan's grin. "I provide you with this food and you eat it. We'll talk about the price of everything later."

But I already knew the price. The price was not one that I was willing to pay. I needed to find a way out of this, I didn't know how long I would have, but I needed to get away from all of this before the bill came up.

XxX

Negan was parading Hunter and I around like we were his new prizes. He showed around the structure that he had built for his community. The entirety of it had a chain-link fence around it, there were walkers directly outside. Why would he allow them to stay close? Perhaps their smell was to ward off others and cover up our scent. There were so many people, most of them were men, there were very few women, all of them were dressed like me. In ridiculous dresses, looking like we were supposed to be some stupid house wives. I noticed the way Negan walked through here, he did own the place. He held so much confidence, leader wasn't the proper term for him, he was a ruler. He took charge of the saviors and nobody questioned him.

Throughout the day, I kept my eyes open for opportunities for escape, anything. I looked for chances to get weapons, but nothing. I had to keep myself focused on what was important, keeping Hunter safe. Somehow, I had to get the two of us out of here. I just had to. I couldn't let Hunter be influenced about what was going on around us.

The day was over quickly and we were back where we started at the table. There was even more food this time. While the rest of the world was starving, we were had food fit for a king. It wasn't right. None of this was. How did he get all of this food?

It didn't matter. I needed a plan to get out of here. "Have some wine, Carlee," Negan touched my shoulder as he placed a glass in front of me and poured a hefty amount. I cringed. "Drink up," he leaned close to my ear, whispering. I could feel his breath on my neck all I wanted was to run away and jump out the window.

I took a deep breath and sipped the wine. I had to clear my head. I needed a new strategy. I needed a new way to get out of here and I knew it would be later, rather than sooner. I wouldn't be able to get out tonight. I had to bide my time as much as possible.

I could get close to Negan. I could make him trust me as much as he did his loyalist man. I could do it. I just didn't like what I would have to do. I just kept Ryan's words in my brain. _Whatever it takes._ That was what I had to do to keep Hunter alive, it was the only option.

So I would do it. I would get close to Negan, however I could, even if that meant sleeping with him. I would get close to him and bide my time until I could make a proper plan to get out of here. That was all that I could do in this situation. I'd have to sleep with him regardless.

 **AN: I'm sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the last one! I was short on ideas and I hope it made sense. I loved your reviews, thank you for the follows and everything. I'll do some editing on this tomorrow and hopefully make it a little longer. Have a great weekend, every one!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Momma, where are you going to sleep?" Hunter asked as I tucked him in to the twin bed. He would sleep in a small room alone. In the last couple of years, since the outbreak, he hadn't slept more than four feet away from me. I couldn't imagine how awful tonight was going to be. I shut the door and returned to the hallway, where Negan was waiting. I didn't have a moment to catch my breath and steel myself for what was to come. He rested his hand on the small of my back and led me to what I presumed to be his bedroom.

"There are more clothes for you in the bathroom," he murmured, as we walked into the room. I nodded and headed that direction. What I didn't expect was for him to walk right in as I was undressing. I had reached back to unzip my dress, but he did something unexpected—he began unzipping it for me. His finger slid down my spine. My insides turned uncomfortably. "Now I'm gonna need you to stay pretty quiet, we wouldn't want to wake your boy," Negan looked over at the wall, I knew Hunter was just in the next room over. Granted, Ryan and I had been intimate plenty of times with our son so close, but this was a much different situation. This was a stranger. A murderer. A man I didn't want near me. Between Ryan and I, it was love.

I swallowed the lump in my throat before nodding slowly. I knew what kind of man Negan was and I understood the consequences of refusing him. If the repercussions only would only affect me, I would take my chances. I knew Hunter would suffer because of me. Though this life wasn't the best or the most ideal, Hunter deserved to have the best chance he could. He deserved to get to experience all of the good things in this world that he could.

"C'mon," he ushered me into the bedroom and sat me on the bed.

 _Whatever it takes._

I took a deep breath and tried to go to my happy place. To leave what was happening in the physical world. Ignore what was happening to my body. I wanted to go off into my mind. Think about what it would've been like if Ryan and I had gotten to move in to that tiny house on Maple with Hunter. I tried to picture how our daughter (or second son) would have looked, how different would it have been in the zombies hadn't risen. Would I still have miscarried? Was it the stress of fighting for our lives as the beginning of all this, or would I have lost our child anyway?

The physical world did not matter. All I had to do was think about how this was necessary for Hunter to get to grow up and for me to be right there with him.

XxX

When I got up the next morning, I felt sick. I felt like utter garbage. Used garbage. I went into the bathroom and washed my face. I slipped on the same dress from yesterday and tried desperately not to cry. Deciding, I took the dress back off and got into the shower. I turned the water, I barely noticed the heat on my flesh. I wanted his touch scorched off me. But I knew that last night was something that I _had_ to do. I didn't have a choice. Hunter was the most important thing in this world, but I still felt bad for it.

After about as long as I believed I could bare in the shower, I stepped out and wiped my eyes. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Even when you're sad?" I looked up, the voice surprising me. I saw Ryan. My husband. How could this be. When his hand touched my cheek, I didn't question it, I just leaned into his touch.

The rational parts of me knew he wasn't real, but the emotional parts of me didn't care. "Ryan, I'm so afraid," I murmured.

"Why's that, baby?" he whispered.

"I don't have you. I'm not strong enough…"

"Of course you are," he kissed my forehead.

"No, Ryan, I'm not. What I did last night was not okay…How could I do that to you?"

"Sh…shh, listen baby. I love you. I love you so damn much and if the situation was any different, I'd never want another man's hands on you. But you know you'd gotta keep our son safe. And you know that right now, this is the only way."

"But I want you…I miss you so damn much."

"I know, Hunter needs you. You have got to do whatever it takes to keep him safe."

"You're not mad at me?"

"Never," he smiled a little and gave me one kiss on my lips. I tried so hard to remember the familiar feeling.

I opened my eyes again and Ryan was gone. I had to do this. I had to do what I could for Hunter.

XxX

The next week continued in the same manner—except I wouldn't see Negan during the day. I was grateful for that, I spent most of my time with Hunter. We would walk around sometimes, just the two of us. These were the moments I enjoyed. It didn't numb the pain that I felt or make me any less displeased with the situation. On the bright side, I could use my walks with Hunter for other motives. I started to learn watch schedules and when they would switch out. I was always watching. One day, hopefully soon, Hunter and I would leave this place and never come back. The only concern was when it would happen.

"Momma," Hunter said, squeezing my hand in his smaller one.

"Yes, sweetie?" I asked, meeting his brown eyes.

"I miss daddy."

I chewed on my lip nervously. I didn't want to cry in front of him. "I miss him too," I murmured.

"Will we ever see him again?"

"Someday," I said, frowning. "But not for a long, long time," I added.

"But I wanna see daddy now," he pouted. He didn't understand. How could I make my eight-year-old understand that for him to see his dad he would have to be dead?

"Sweetie, you can't see him any time soon, you gotta stay with me, alright?"

"But can't we both see him."

"Not for a long time, alright? You can't go where daddy went, not now."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not old enough. You have a lot of things to do here first…" I wanted him to understand. He seemed to think about this for a long moment.

"Are you old enough?"

"I can't go yet either," I answered. "I've gotta take care of you," I ruffled his hair a little, trying to force a smile. He seemed to accept this information.

I never knew if my parenting was correct. I hadn't had much of a mother figure growing up, I'd usually left a lot of the parenting suggestions to Ryan. He knew what to do. While I'd grown up with a heroin addict for a mother and her sorry excuse for a boyfriend as a "father", Ryan had grown up in the picture perfect Southern family. I didn't hold that against him, part of me was envious of his family dynamic—especially when I went there for the holidays, but now I just wished I'd had a better parental figure so I knew what to say. Hunter had never dealt with death until now. I wasn't sure he even understood the concept.

I took Hunter back to our temporary home. I went to the kitchen to find something to make for lunch. The cabinets were constantly stocked and I had to admit, not struggling for food every day was a relief.

"Soup okay?" I asked Hunter. He sat at the counter and nodded. He had crayons and a colouring book in front of him.

"I miss home," he said, it was so quiet I could barely hear him.

"This is home…for now."

"I mean our _real_ home," he clarified. "Where I went to school with Harry and Lexi."

"I miss it too," I said. "Maybe we'll go back some day."

"Could we?"

"I hope so," I said. "I have an idea, why don't you draw it, that way you always remember it?" he needed a distraction. He grinned at the idea and nodded.

XxX

I stood in the kitchen later that evening, washing dishes. Hunter was in the living room with his colouring books. Negan joined me in the kitchen and I felt my muscles tense. I hated this man so much.

"What the hell is this?" I saw him looking at the fridge. I'd hung Hunter's picture of our old house on there.

"I'm just trying to make this more of a home," I murmured. I knew playing innocent was always better. Hunter had begged me to put the picture up, he had wanted something to be like home.

Out of the corner of my eye, as I continued working on the dishes, Negan tore the picture down from the fridge. I looked at him confused.

"Your boy is weak," he said, his voice low. "We'll have to toughen him up," he stated, smiling slightly.

"No," I said.

"What?" Negan's eyes met mine, this was the one issue I couldn't afford not to stand my ground on.

"You'll leave Hunter alone," I said, not daring to look away from his gaze.

"I'm sorry, but last time I checked you weren't in charge, Sweetheart," he grinned.

"He is my son and you won't tough him."

"You won't tell _me_ what I can and can't do," Negan stepped closer to me, I reflexively stepped back into the counter. He was much closer now. "You're nothing more than a piece of property, _my property_. So if I decide your boy is going to learn to be a man, then that's what's gonna happen."

"No," I said again. Negan reached his hand up around my throat.

"This is not a negotiation," he grinned.

"Get off my mom," Hunter's voice came from behind Negan.

"We're just talking, Sweetie, go in the other room," I tried to say, but I was pretty sure only half of it came out.

"Don't hurt her!" Hunter shouted.

A moment later, Negan's hand released from my throat and I looked down to see a piece of shining metal in his leg.

It took me a moment to notice what had happened. Hunter had stabbed Negan in the leg with a knife.

 **AN: Thank you to everyone who has faved/followed/reviewed. I love hearing what you think. I'm** **surprised** **this story is growing in popularity. I didn't think it'd be super popular when I posted it, but here it is! Anyway, please continue to review! I love to read those so much!**


	4. Chapter 4

My muscles were weak, I barely had the strength to move from the place I sat on the concrete ground. I guess that was what happened when you refused to eat or drink anything for a solid week. I was on a hunger strike until I got to see Hunter again. I hadn't seen my son since he stabbed Negan, what the hell had they done with him? Was he okay? What if he wasn't? Oh God, I couldn't bare that thought. I loved my son so much, he was all I had. I just hoped that Negan hadn't killed him or turned him into one of the undead. I couldn't deal with either of those possibilities.

I knew what I would do, if something happened to Hunter. I wouldn't continue to walk this lousy, godforsaken earth. I would end it. I would try to end it by saving someone who deserved to live much more than I, but that would be it. I didn't have much more of a plan from there. Hunter was the only thing that mattered and he was the last part of my husband I had left.

I heard a metal creak and I looked up to see the door to the small room, in which I was staying, open. There stood the man I dreaded more than anyone to see. Negan. He walked a couple paces closer to me. He held out his hand as if he were going to help me up. I met his eyes briefly before looking at the hand. I tried to stand on my own, but no avail. I frowned slightly.

"You're weak," he said. "You haven't eaten?" Was it that obvious? It was funny, how before, I had always wanted to weigh a little less, social stigmas had gotten to me like everyone else. Now I wanted to gain weight. I was far too thin now. I had expended most of any of the calories I had stored over the years.

"No," I said. "I want to see my son."

"He's fine. The boy's a real natural." He grinned wickedly at me, as he pulled me from the ground. "He catches on really quick too.

"What have you done to him?" I questioned.

"Just took him out there, showed him I'm not as bad as he thinks," he winked. "He's a good shot. Your husband teach him that?"

I wanted to lunge, I wanted to kick his ass, but I didn't. I resisted. I knew the consequences. "Yeah, he did. Ryan is-was-an amazing shot," I stood my ground, my blue eyes meeting Negan's gaze. He smirked a little. He knew that one struck a nerve and that it hurt me. He also knew that I was stuck, I had to do what he said and act how he wanted.

"You're lucky you're hot," he said, grinning. "C'mon, you need to get cleaned up and eat something before you come back to my bed."

I cringed again. I didn't want to go back to that. Part of me wanted to stay in this little room and die. But the other part of me knew that I needed to go back to Hunter. I needed to see my son. I need to fix what Negan had done.

XxX

When I walked into Negan's home, I saw my son, sitting at the table, cleaning a handgun. "Hunter?" I asked nervously. He looked up at me and smiled. He didn't leap into my arms or scream _"Momma"_ he barely even cared that I was there. That was the first sign that something was seriously off. Hunter had been excited to see me after only being apart for an hour.

"Hey mom," he greeted. S omething was up. I saw a small red stain on the end of the gun. Oh no. Who/what had he shot? Hunter had been taught to shoot, but he'd killed no more than a few walkers. He was so damn young, we didn't want him to need this skill.

"Hunter, is that blood on your gun?"

"Yeah...there were people not listening to Negan...I helped him."

My stomach churned. Oh my god. My son had shot a person. Possibly killed them! I was going to be sick. I couldn't bare that thought. "You helped him?"

"Yeah, we had some ungrateful bastards in our group here. We showed 'em, right sport?" he ruffled Hunters hair.

"Yeah! Momma, Negan does a lot for us, and they didn't care," Hunter shook his head.

My son had been brainwashed, he thought that Negan was doing good for us. He overlooked all of the violence and how wrong all of this was. How could he do that? I had raised him so much better than that.

"What did you do to him?" I murmured, looked over at Nega, who just shrugged in response.

"He had to learn," he grinned. "And he did. He did a great job too. When he gets a little older, I'm sure he'll be an important member of this community."

Now that one was adding insult to injury. Negan thought we were going to be here long enough for Hunter to grow up and join is group of _Saviors,_ he thought that he could raise my son to be one of his brainwashed soliders. My son could never be anything like Negan, I knew that I couldn't let that happen. If he thought that Hunter and I were going to stay here that long, he had another thing coming.

 **AN: I'm sorry it's been so long and that this is so short! I just moved and I've been so wrapped up with that, work, and school I haven't had much time! I hope you liked it anyway! Your reviews are welcomed and encouraged!**


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't want to think about what I had to do to convince Negan to let me come on this trip. I felt dirty and disgusting. He had planned on taking Hunter and leaving me back at the factory to stay by myself. I had managed to convince him otherwise, and now I was on the road with Negan's band of psycho killers, normally it wouldn't be ideal, but I needed to be near my son. I had to be here to protect him, nothing else mattered. We were chasing and terrorizing another group. I knew that the result for them would be much the same as it had been for the rest of my group. But I couldn't stop it, I just had to make sure that nothing happened to my son in the process of everything.

The whole time, I was studying our group, trying to figure out how to get out of here. How to take Hunter and just make a run for it. I just didn't know what real options that I had. I kept looking for holes, ways for escape, but there were none. Negan was too invested in Hunter, his eyes were on my son nearly the whole time. Eventually, we had the group cornered into a clearing. Negan's men, as well as Hunter and I stood around all of them, keeping them on their knees and ready to be murdered. I felt so sick. I couldn't stand to watch what was about to happen to this group. I wouldn't wish what I had gone through on anyone else. I wasn't that awful of a human. This group had more people than mine had, and from the sounds of what they spoke about, they had a much larger group, maybe Negan wouldn't kill all of them like he had my group.

I grabbed Hunter's hand, I didn't want him to see or hear anything that Negan was saying as he addressed the group. I looked at each of them. There were men, women, and even a child, not much older than Hunter. It seemed that the kid belonged to their leader—that one hit a little too close to home, I really hoped Negan didn't leave the boy without a father.

I locked eyes with the apparent leader of their group. His blue eyes glanced over me as well as my son. He seemed to plead for me to do something, anything. But I couldn't. If I couldn't save myself, how could I save anyone else? No matter how much I wanted to. This group could be full of good people or even full of bad people, either way they didn't deserve Negan's wrath.

"Miney….Mo…" Suddenly, Negan took his bat, Lucille, and his the read headed man over the head. I covered Hunters eyes as all of this happened. He didn't need to see. I flinched with each hit to the head. I could hear the disgusting smash of the skull with the bat each time. I was going to be sick. It brought too many memories of what had happened to Ryan back. This man had no meaning to me, other than the fact that he was a living breathing human, but he mattered to someone. He mattered to this group, Negan was ripping away a life that mattered to the other people that were watching all of this, and that was not okay. None of this was okay, new world or old world.

"What the hell are you doing?" Negan's voice sounded more direct, like it was towards me. I looked up to see the tall man making his way towards Hunter and me.

"He needs to watch this," he pulled Hunter over to the middle of the semi-circle of people. "Now watch this, son," he grinned as he took another whack at the red head's skull. He enjoyed this and he wanted my son to enjoy as well. I couldn't stand for this. As a mother, my goal was to raise a wonderful human being, but if my son grew up to be like Negan, I would fail.

"No," I said. I started to make my way closer to my son and Negan. I felt a hand on my arm and I locked eyes with Mack. I hadn't seen him in weeks. He'd become a part of Negan's band of merry men.

"He'll kill you," Mack said. "You know that."

"But he's got Hunter…Hunter is so young…He can't watch this. He just can't Mack...it'll ruin him. How will he ever be able to come back from this?" tears were streaming down my cheeks.

"Carlee, you know you'll die if you go over there…and you'll get your kid killed in the process."

Though he didn't soothe any of my issues with my son's well being, he was right. I couldn't do anything. I had to avoid doing anything that could risk Hunter's safety. But this was not okay. This was going to change Hunter as a human and there was nothing that I could do.

"You're right…" I tried so hard not to let the tears flow down my cheeks. I missed whatever commotion had happen to cause another one of their group to receive a visit from Lucille. But when I noticed everything that was going on, Hunter was just watching as Negan ended another life. I couldn't believe what was going on. I didn't know how I would get my son back to how he once was. How could you ever unsee that? I had to fix this. Somehow. Someway.

 **AN: Sorry it's been so long. I just had my finals week. And I'm also sorry it's short. Leave your reviews below** **J**


	6. Chapter 6

XxX Rick's POV XxX

For the first time in a long time, I felt helpless and lost, helpless against helpless against the evil plaguing my group. He stood in front of us, alone except for a young boy. I looked away as he continued to whack Abraham's head. As he continued to kill a man that I respected, a man that I cared about like family, I looked away. I tried to study his crew. One woman at the back of the group had already caught my eye earlier. I believed that she was the mom of the young boy, who may or may not have been Negan's son. It wasn't like it mattered, but I found it to be odd that he would bring his wife or his whatever she was along for this. Why? I needed to figure him out. He would pay for this, I'd make sure of that. I just needed to figure out how. This woman and this kid could be the way to do that.

I looked over down the group, down the line of people I cared about, as I did this, I saw Daryl swing his fist a Negan, the punch landed and flinched. Not Daryl too. Anyone but Daryl. He was my brother. Negan backed up a little, as his men pulled Daryl to the ground.

"Son, guess it's today that you get to really earn your stripes today," Negan patted the young boy's head and slowly passed over the bat. The child looked up and down the bat, how could he give a kid this? Was Negan going to make a child kill another human? I knew this world was all kinds of fucked up, but this was too far, way too far.

The woman in the group caught my eye again. She seemed to be fighting against another man, she finally made it away from him and she went straight for Negan. He caught her easily and held onto her hair, keeping her still. She must be the boy's mother. Was she Negan's wife, perhaps? She had to be, he was looking at the kid like he was his own.

XxX Carlee's POV XxX

Negan had my hair in his fingers, he held me in place as he forced me to meet his dark brown eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I…I'm keeping you from making my son do _that_ ," I murmured. "He's just a kid..."

"I'm not _making_ your son do anything," he grinned. "He knows the way and he's trying to show the others that this is how it is now. That this is what we do. He knows what needs to be done. Now unless you want to leave your boy an orphan, I suggest you get your ass back over there."

I had to consider my options. Was it better for to die and leave Negan with my child or to let Negan bring this irreversible damage onto Hunter's psyche. I could fight back, I could tell Negan to go fuck himself and fight him until one of us was dead. But that would, as he already mentioned, leave my son an orphan.

Once my decision was made, I regretted it immediately. I slumped my shoulders, signalling that I'd given up. He grinned and a couple of his men pulled me back to where I had been before. "I'll deal with you when we get home," he turned his attention back to my son, he knelt down and whispered something to him. I suddenly saw my boy take a bat to the head child be ripped away from him. None of this could be taken back. I should have just found a way for Negan to kill us both. This was not right.

XxX

When we got back, Negan took me aside and pushed me against the wall. Before, I may

"Who do you think you are?" he asked. "How is it that you think you can walk up and interrupt me?" he questioned. The way he looked at me made me sick. He genuinely thought that he was the big man in charge and my life and my opinion didn't matter, it was like I was an object. Not a real person.

"I was trying to keep you from changing my son. He's just a kid." I said.

"Maybe I will kill you," he said, seeming to think out loud. "Maybe I'll kill you, then I'll get to have the son I never had. I'll raise him as my own, without you to have any sort of influence over him. It'd be great, like a mini-me," he smirked.

"Fuck you," I said. "Leave my kid alone."

"Getting brave? Where were you when Hunter bashed that guy's skull in?" he still had my back to the wall, his hand reached up and wrapped around my neck. "He's really somethin', y'know. He just had all this untapped potential, you and your pussy ass husband were holding him back," he grinned. I tried to push out of his grip and get away, but he just tightened his grip.

"Fuck you," I said.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Carlee."

I was stuck. Again. What could I really do?

Back down and hope to find a way out of this and repair with my son. So that's what I did, I backed down. And it landed me right back in the small concrete room. I sat against the far back wall, an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach the whole time. I just wanted to be sick. I couldn't believe I was stuck here, while my son was out there. With _him_.

About ten minutes later, the door opened again and there was a man, he was from the group in the woods. He had longer hair, he was the one who had punched Negan. He took the wall opposite of me as the men pushed him towards the ground. I met his eyes slowly, and he looked away quickly. They shut the door and it was completely dark.

"I'm Carlee," I said, looking him over.

"Daryl," he said.

"You're the guy who punched Negan, right?"

"How'd you know that?"

"I…I was there."

"You're the one with the kid. _His_ wife?"

"No," I said immediately. "I am not married to that son of a bitch." I could never be married to someone like Negan.

"That his kid or?"

"No. What he did to your group, he did to every member of my group—except my son, myself, and one other man." Daryl was quiet for a few moments, and then I continued. "He decided that I would _be_ with him and then he started raising my son as his own."

"And ya didn't stop him?"

"Fuck you, this is what happened when I tried. This is what I was trying to avoid. Now he's going to be there with my son, doing whatever he wants to do. You did exactly what I did, you defied Negan and it landed your ass here. With me."

"I won' be here long," he said.

"There isn't a way out, I've tried." Maybe there was a way out, but not one where you would get to keep breathing.

"We'll see."

"Then let me know when you find it." I sighed, I needed out of here.

 **AN: This one was a bit longer! I hope you liked it. Negan is a savage, and has taken things a bit far…I hope that seems realistic.**


	7. Chapter 7

As it turned out, Daryl had also been from Southern Georgia. He even knew of the bar that Ryan and the rest of the bikers had frequented. We spend the last few days in living hell, but we talked. We talked to each other and I thought that he seemed like a genuinely good person. He mostly avoided his group, whenever the topic came up, he was protecting him, and that was fine. I could respect that. But he still talked to me, mostly. It was…nice, having someone to talk to, I mean. I hadn't really just had a conversation about something that wasn't strategic or manipulative in a quite a while. It made me think of when Ryan and I used to just talk, I couldn't remember the last time we'd had a conversation about nothing important. If there was any good in all this bad, it was that I felt like a real person again, not a mindless robot.

"When'll we get outta here, ya think?" he asked, his knees pulled up. I ignored the fact that he didn't have clothes on. It was out of respect for him, he clearly wasn't comfortable in this situation—hell I had clothes on, well I had a dress that Negan had provided.

"I don't know…I was here for a week last time," I said, thinking back to that time, when I didn't eat. In fact, I didn't eat this time.

"Last time?" he asked.

"Yeah…I uh…spent a week down here," I sighed. We had only been in there for two days. I didn't even want to think about what was going on with Negan and Hunter right now. I didn't know if I would be able to take this again. I barely managed the first time.

"Why?" he asked, his face contorted in concern.

"My son stabbed Negan in the leg. Hunter was protecting me…but now he's like brainwashed. He's just like Negan and his minions. I haven't been able to stop it...I won't be able to stop it unless we get out of here."

"Your kid's something."

"Yeah, he is. He just needs to get away from Negan." Negan had said the same thing about Hunter, that he was something. Daryl meant it in a different way though, he was something as in something more respectable, not something as in another minion.

"He will," Daryl agreed.

I nodded, running a hand through my hair.

XxX

The next day, one of Negan's men, one that I recognized, came down to the room in which Daryl and I were staying. "C'mon," he grabbed my arm and took me from the room. I met Daryl's eyes once more before leaving. It was my unspoken promise to help get him out of here and back to his group.

The man led me upstairs and Negan met me there. "C'mere, I need to talk to you," he put his arm around me, like we were old friends.

"What?" I questioned.

"I'm going to give you a couple of options, here, Carlee. Not many people get the opportunity to make a choice like this. You get your pick, because you know, it seems like you're not very happy here and I want you to be happy. You can either work for me as one of the dead, you could work for points and want to be one of the dead, or you can return to being one of my wives. It is completely up to you."

"And what happens to Hunter?"

"No matter what you choose, he is going to stay with me. If you so choose to be my wife, you of course would be able to see him, but the other two options don't look too great for you," he made a grimacing face and watched me.

The choice was obvious. I'd be there for my son. "I'll be your wife, Negan," I said.

"You sure. You really mean it this time?" he asked, he took my chin between his thumb and his forefinger. I nodded, he leaned in close to kiss me. I knew what he wanted.

I closed the gap and kissed him.

"Good," he smiled. "You could very easily be my favourite, he kissed me again and I had to pretend that I enjoyed it. I had to do more than just be okay with what was happening. I had to pretend that I like it, but it couldn't just be pretend, I had to like it. I had to find a way to like it.

"Can I see Hunter?"

"Later. Now is for you and I. We've gotta celebrate, you're my wife now."

XxX

"You've really come around, I knew a couple days in that room with the dirty redneck would set you straight," Negan said, as I redressed. I just nodded and allowed Negan to lead the way out of the room. He led me to another room with a bunch of other women. Apparently, I was nowhere Negan's only wife. Somehow, I was happier with that situation. "You'll get to see Hunter in a bit, he's out," he kissed my cheek and left me with the other women.

All I could think about was Daryl, down in that room by himself…I would get him out of there, somehow. I didn't know how, but I would. I would get him out of there and I would escape with him and Hunter.

My mind corrected myself immediately. If I could save Daryl too, I would. But he wasn't my main priority. Hunter was. I couldn't save this random man, no matter how much he was worth saving.

"Who are you?" one of the woman asked.

"Carlee," I said.

"I'm Bree, you're the one he's taken to quite a bit," she replied. Negan has taken quite a liking to me? Literally why the hell would he do that? There were plenty of women who seemed to actually want to be with him. Literally why the fuck did he even spend his time on me? I didn't want to be with him...but I guessed it was better if he thought I did.

"Oh?" I questioned.

"He's spent a lot of time with you lately, left us to ourselves a bit more," she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, I suppose?" I wasn't sure how to feel about that. These other women couldn't think of Negan as their husband, could they?

"It's not your fault, the heart wants what the heart wants," she shrugged.

"Yeah…" I walked over to a table where I had spotted liquor. Burbon, more specifically. I poured myself a glass and sipped it slowly. For now, this was my life, living in an old factory with a crazy leader and my sister-wives. Great. Just what I'd always wanted for myself. It was kind of funny to think that my mother had once frowned upon my marriage to Ryan, if only she could see me now…if she hadn't been eaten by the dead, already, that was.

 **AN: I don't usually post this late (Early?) but my sleep schedule is super thrown off so this is the only time I've been inspired. I hope this chapter was good. I know that I still need to go back and edit the last few, but at least there's been more new stuff to read lately! Anyway, thank you for reading. Please review and continue to fav/follow as well.**


	8. Chapter 8

Daryl had been out for a few days now. He, as Negan had said, worked for points. Which meant that he didn't get much food or much of anything really. One night, Negan was out with Hunter and some of the other guys. I searched the factory for Daryl and eventually found him. I led him into another corridor where I knew that we could be alone to talk.

"Here," I handed him a can of beans. "It was the only thing I could grab without him noticing." He looked at the beans, then he looked at me and back at the beans. "I'm not asking for anything in return," I said. Slowly, he took the can and nodded, his way of thanking me.

"You alright?" he asked, he gave me a once over. Though I maintained a clean appearance, as Negan liked, and I was physically okay, I knew Daryl was asking more about my mental state.

"Mostly. I'll be better when we get out of here," he nodded in agreement.

"If we can get Negan to leave without Hunter, I think we could do it."

"How we gonna do that? If ya haven't noticed, he keeps yer kid with him always."

"I know…" I sighed. "We'll find a way. Just…be ready. I'll keep an eye on things and I'll let you know as soon as we can go for it."

"A'right, if I find my shot before ya come to me—"

"You go. You don't owe me anything, Daryl. And you know it's the same for me. If I can't get you out too, I'm going to just go. But if we can help each other, we will."

Daryl nodded and headed back out into the main room of the factory. I waited a few moments before also leaving. The last thing I wanted was for someone to see Daryl and I together, nothing good could come from that.

XxX

The chance came four days later. I looked all round for Daryl but had no such luck. I thought to check one last place, the room where we'd originally met. I had Hunter with me, I'd managed to get him to take a Benadryl, so he was long asleep. Part of me thought that to be a waste of resources, but it was necessary. Negan had brainwashed Hunter so much that he'd never come with me otherwise.

I tried to ignore how fucked up that was, that my own kid wouldn't come with me to escape this hell. I literally had to drug him to get him to leave. I held my son in my arms as I opened the door to Daryl's small room. He looked up at me, his blue eyes showed that he was slightly surprised.

"Well c'mon," I said. He stood from the ground and didn't argue with me. We managed to make it out of the factory, to where there were two motorcycles.

"You know how ta ride, don't ya?" Daryl asked me, looking at the bike and then looking back at me.

"Hell yeah, of course I do," he went to get on his bike and I set Hunter down. I managed to get him slightly alert. Daryl stopped when we heard someone else coming around the corner. He picked up a pole, ready to fight back if he needed to. He and I both ducked down and the large man that Negan tended to make fun of came around the corner. When he saw Daryl with the pole, he put his hands up and begged to be left alone. He said he was just trying to get by too, and that he would let us go. Daryl didn't buy it, he bashed the man's head in with the pole and then I saw him grab a gun from the fat man's side.

"C'mon," Daryl said.

I managed to get Hunter awake enough to hold onto the bike. I allowed Daryl to lead the way. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I trusted him enough to take me somewhere decently safe, just so that I could figure out what the next move would be for Hunter and me.

Eventually, we pulled up to a gate, this must be his community. It surprised me a little that he would bring me back here, did he really trust me enough for that?

Once we were within the gate, I stepped off my bike after shutting it off. Many people met Daryl with hugs and people welcoming him back. Once they welcomed him, they turned their attention to Hunter and me. "Hi…I'm Carlee," I said. Nobody said anything to me directly, they all murmured among themselves until Daryl spoke up.

"She got me out," he said. "We gotta help her."

"Okay," their leader agreed, he and Daryl shared a meaningful glance before "I'm Rick…If Daryl says you're okay, then that's enough for me," he stated. "But you can't stay here," he said. He and Daryl met eyes again. The two clearly shared some sort of connection, a strong bond.

"I can't either," Daryl realized. Rick nodded. "Negan'll be lookin' for us and he'll come back here when he knows we're gone…We gotta go."

 **AN: So they've escaped. We're all caught up to the mid-season finale. I'm trying to think of ideas so that I can continue watching without guidelines from the show, so if you've got anything, hit me up! Thanks for the reviews/favs/follows. Keep it up!**


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